By: Fajrina Nissa

World Ocean Day and Coral Triangle Day, Marine Buddies Surabaya Community held a talk show entitled "#BeliYangBaik for Sustainable Seafood". The talk show, which was held at Mahameru Restaurant, was attended by 59 people from students, fisheries activists to mothers who like to consume seafood.

M. Maskur Tamanyira, WWF-Indonesia Capture Fisheries Officer, as the talk show speaker, explained the journey of humans and fish from 1950 to 2012. It can be seen that there is a difference in the size and number of fish caught, as well as the number of people who catch from year to year. In 1950, there were not many people catching fish, so the fish obtained were many and large. As the years went by, the number of people fishing increased, but the fish became smaller and smaller. The Living Blue Planet report also confirms a 50% decline in marine resources since 1970.

In the two-hour talk, it was explained how we as consumers can contribute to improving fisheries conditions by using the Seafood guide. Seafood Guide as a consumer guide in consuming seafood can show the status of fish by giving colors like traffic signs, namely red, yellow, green. In addition, it shows how the fish was caught, where it was caught, how it was cultivated and where it came from. Available in the form of pocket guide and virtual pocket guide, the seafood guide now comes in the form of an application that facilitates smartphone users with the name Seafood Advisor.

"Who is the most influential in the world?"
Maskur hopes that Seafood Advisor can be the initial movement to sensitize consumers regarding the decline of marine resources so as to encourage consumers to ask questions every time they buy and consume fish, then can decide on a course of action after knowing the condition of the fish to be purchased. While fishermen, WWF-Indonesia through JARING-Nusantara provides assistance to fishermen in the Indonesian region to slowly begin to change the way of fishing.

Afterward, Maskur played the video "Who is the most influential in the world", and emphasized that consumers are very influential on natural resources on earth, including marine resources. The presentation from the speakers provoked participants to ask further questions, one of the interesting ones was "Will Seafood Advisor be effective to reduce pressure on marine resources, and what does WWF-Indonesia do to fishermen to change the way of fishing?".

The talk show was closed with a meal and a group photo by the speakers and all participants. The Marine buddies Surabaya community will routinely organize activities to protect the ocean. Currently, Marine Buddies Surabaya is holding an open recruitment for volunteers, if you are interested please visit the twitter timeline @marbudSBY.